Lucifen's plan to reacquaint himself in the Dawn had horribly went south when his hatred for the Elves gotten the better of him during a trip to the Misty Mountains. The moment Bree was in sights, Lucifen left the company and isolated himself. Their mission was finished, and with unfortunate consequences.
Many emotions ran through Lucifen's head as he thought back at how he has changed many things. It surprised him how a few words can carry great weight. The death threats he received and the general anger directed towards him was something he was a bit used of, but perhaps the worst part of it all is that Lucifen felt guilt in the middle of all his emotions.
The guilt mainly was composed from a single source, that source would have the name of Vendrith. Lucifen knew Vendrith a little bit before he left for Gondor, and even less when he returned. But to his eyes, Vendrith held no grudge of hate towards him, so he was alright.
But after Lucifen's words exiled the Dawn from Rivendell, Vendrith was the one who took it the hardest. Little did Luc know, Vendrith loved Rivendell, and the pain from not returning there was worse than being stabbed by the sharpest spear in all of Middle-Earth.
A few days passed as Lucifen kept to himself. And only a few attempts of trail and judgment were made by those in the company towards him while he isolated himself in Bree. The grief and guilt he felt drove him closer to drinking then ever before, and the lightweight known as Lucifen stirred quite the drinking fest in the Prancing Pony. His blabbering and stuttered tongue caused more trouble, but not as much as before, in Bree.
A letter would soon arrive, something he hadn't expect. It was addressed to him and inside was a pouch of 20 gold coins and a letter, from none other than Fiontann. "The payment for the Misty Mountains. Dwarves can be generous!" the letter said. "And Elves can be awful..." Lucifen would reply, as in expecting to find Fiontann jumping out of the letter itself and giving Luc a beating.
After a few fights in the Pony, he built up enough courage and soberness to visit the Dawnhall, home of the Bloody Dawn. Throughout the trip, he constantly thought of how much of a bad idea this was. But when he arrived, it was vacant, like many times before.
Lucifen took in a deep breath; The Dawnhall, a place which he had called home for many years is one of the few things that didn't hate him at that moment. With a almost sober smile, he allowed many of his guilt to escape from his mind and to be replaced with a humble silence.
That silence, would of course, be interrupted by his closest friend, Nimeway. As she poked and hugged Lucifen, his thoughts turned to glee and playfulness. Even with Fiontann later joining the two, that night had been one of the best he had in a while.
After leaving the Dawnhall in a good mood, Lucifen would begin to notice his footing isn't quite right. Perhaps it was the ale from the pony catching up to him, or the fact Nimeway brought out some wine during her visit. Either way, drunk Lucifen ended up buying a new house in Bree. Seeing how he sold his old one in Bree years ago and he hadn't had the chance to visit the one in Ered Luin. The house was nice and large, and the drunk man who pissed off nearly all the Elves back in Rivendell fell asleep there, worried about nothing.
Another day would pass, and Lucifen decide to return to the Dawnhall. Perhaps he would experience the same joy and content he had before, or perhaps something new would arrive there waiting for him? He wondered throughout the trip there.
Oh, something new did wait for him there. The moment he entered, he saw Nimeway. As a smile conjured upon his face, he spent a few minutes chatting with his friend. And from the corner of his eye, he wouldn't believe it, a ghost from his past would emerged. The same one who without her he wouldn't have the chance of knowing anyone he currently does. It was the first face he saw in the Dawn, his recruiter, Hyrien.
Lucifen hasn't seen her since before he left, and now, he didn't seem quite happy about seeing her. Her face was stern and her frown also shows that she isn't quite happy about seeing him.
Leaving the gruesome details out, that day was the polar opposite of the one before. As Hyrien pulled out Lucifen's tongue with hot irons and chopped it to pieces from his mouth with her dagger, Fiontann held Lucifen's back against the table and forced him to partake the punishment.
As Lucifen was dragged out of the Dawnhall by Fiontann and lead to a nearby healer. A single piece of cloth is clogged in his mouth. Luc couldn't grasp anything that was going on. His throat hurts from screaming, his legs tremble with every step, the touch of Fiontann helping him walk is no longer recognized as a brother. Lucifen's vision formed into a tunnel and his ears felt deaf. Fiontann's word mumbled throughout his skull as he left him with the healer. The moment the healer left his presence, Lucifen bolted for the door.
His numb legs gave way a couple of times before he managed to escape both the healer and the homesteads. The moment Luc felt he was far enough, he ripped the cloth from his mouth. Blood begin to splatter out as he tried to speak, the more he tried the more he had to cough out. He brings his fist down into the earth as he tries to say anything, absolutely anything, but each time he tried, his absent tongue would curse his speech and only untranslatable groans and creeks out escape his mouth.
The next several days, Lucifen chose not to return to the homesteads. He woke and slept in the pony, drinking excessively and exploring new limits with his change. Soups and other liquids are now the only thing he can eat, as he found out by trying out a loaf a bread.
Drunk Lucifen no longer blabbered or stuttered, he just sits there, isolated from everyone. The tankard of ale slowly becoming more and more empty with every passing minute. Passing out on the table became a normality for him as his mind races to many conclusions.
During one of his somber naps against one of the tables, he felt a familiar poke reach his side. Still in a drunken state, he would wake to find Nimeway. At first, he rejected her visit by ignoring her and sipping some more of his ale, but after a few convincing and playful gestures by her, his mood would change. As a smile would form on his lips, she leaped to hug him. Nearly knocking over the tankard, Lucifen would try to not fall over from the added weight of his best friend. During that embrace, Lucifen would feel a string of emotions plucked into a chord. He tried expressing them by opening his mouth, but after remember he can no longer use what he doesn't have, he shut it. Word, forever unspoken.
Fiontann would shortly come by afterwards, just like the last time Lucifen and Nimeway shared time together. He came searching for her, requiring her skills for another task. But as he found two Dawner's instead of one, he extended his offer to both of them.
Lucifen, the drunk and prideful idiot he is, would neglect his offer. After all, he feels he was betrayed by him. A brother who he looked up to would shove him down onto a table and force him to lose his tongue. Any feeling of guilt or grief from before were quickly cut away from him just as quickly his tongue was, and now, feelings of betrayal and anger replaced them.
Nimeway agreed to Fiontann's proposal and urged that Lucifen should do the same. It took some convincing, but Lucifen ended up agreeing. He didn't agree to help Fiontann though, but instead agreed to help Nimeway.
As their new task was set in motion, Fiontann led the two to the mess hall in Bree for further evaluation over the details. Nimeway had to help Lucifen over there of course, seeing how the bloke got himself drunk enough for his feet to stop working completely.
As the terms were made, Fiontann took an early leave. Content with recruiting the two for his cause, but yet troubled by something. With Nimeway and Lucifen alone, Luc felt more at peace than before. "I know what you need!" Nimeway spoke, obviously since Lucifen couldn't. Nimeway produced a leather journal, pencil, and a glee of a grin to the drunk.
Either the ale or his smarts, Lucifen didn't think of the idea of writing anything down at all. The offer took him by surprise as he accepted it, nodding several times in grace as he wasted no time in opening it. "Don't read what it's in, but you can use the blank pages." Nime said to him as Luc already started writing something. She tilted her head, curious to what he has to say. "What are you writing?"
Lucifen turns the book around and placed it upright. On it, over both pages, words would be written in very large and curvy lines. Lucifen's head popped well above the book with a genuine smile as Nimeway reads the words "Thank you" poorly written.
It is moments like these that Lucifen can truly forget about every darkness and cruel haunting memory that ever crossed his mind. But as of late, with nearly all of his friends gone completely from his life, it has been significantly harder for him to find happiness in his life.
Of course, even with the beautiful moment he just shared with his best friend Nimeway, his visits to the pony didn't stop. It would seem he replaced his sword and bow for a tankard of ale.
